Cardinals Capitalize On 49ers Mistakes To Win 33-21

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Drew Stanton threw two touchdown passes to Larry Fitzgerald in his first start in two years, David Johnson ran for two scores and the Arizona Cardinals capitalized on San Francisco mistakes to beat the 49ers 33-21 on Thursday night.

The Cardinals (2-3) got 17 points off three turnovers by the 49ers (1-4) — two interceptions by Blaine Gabbert and a fumbled kickoff return by Chris Davis — and also had one drive extended by a running-into-the-kicker penalty.

Stanton then led his only long scoring drive of the night capped by a 29-yard pass to Fitzgerald to make it 21-7 and Marcus Cooper’s interception off Gabbert set up a 36-yard field goal by Chandler Catanzaro.

WE WANT KAP: There were several thousand empty seats at the game but the fans who did show up were frustrated by what they saw. At one point in the third quarter, a chant of “We want Kap! We want Kap!” started up as fans wanted to give former starter Colin Kaepernick a shot at quarterback. Gabbert responded by leading an 82-yard TD drive fueled in part by his 24-yard run .

FAVORITE TARGET: Jeremy Kerley, acquired two weeks before the start of the season in a trade with Detroit, has quickly established himself as Gabbert’s most trusted receiver. After nine straight punts to open the game, Gabbert completed four passes for 63 yards on one drive in the second quarter, capped by a 9-yard TD pass to Kerley .

PUNT PARTY: The first quarter featured six drives, six punts, zero points and only five completed passes as both offenses struggled mightily. Gabbert and Stanton missed open receivers, had other throws dropped and neither offense could generate much of anything.

SACK PARTY: Markus Golden and Campbell each had two of Arizona’s seven sacks as the Cardinals put constant pressure on Gabbert. Pass protection had been one of the few positives on offense for the 49ers, who had allowed just three sacks the first four games.